COP27 has not been
easy for World Bank president David Malpass, whose views on climate change have
been blamed for the bank’s failure to finance meaningful climate action in
developing countries, like Jordan.
اضافة اعلان
Malpass, who was nominated to lead the World Bank by
former Republican president Donald Trump in 2019, has received negative press
in The New York Times and The Guardian, following his appearance at the climate
event in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt.
Last week, a reporter for The Guardian asked Malpass
repeatedly, “are you a climate denier?”, ruining months of damage control by
the World Bank’s communications department attempting to reframe views that the
top official had made on the matter.
Soon after, The New York Times ran an online story
with the reminder that “scientists and policy experts have been saying for
years that the World Bank is not acting swiftly enough to tackle climate change
under Mr Malpass”. The report added: “They point to high interest rates for
developing countries, insufficient climate funds and continued financing for
fossil fuel projects as evidence that the bank lacks a cohesive climate
strategy.”
In an interview with The Guardian on Monday, former
US Vice President Al Gore, who had previously called for Malpass to resign,
said that fundamental reform of the World Bank could be completed within a
year, to help reorient its spending on the climate crisis, as well as to end
its contribution to what he termed “fossil fuel colonialism”.
Malpass has come under fire since September,
following remarks he had made at a live event organized by The New York Times
on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Speaking on stage during a panel discussing “closing
the climate finance gap”, Malpass tried to dodge a repeated question by the
moderator on whether he believes the “manmade burning of fossil fuels is
rapidly and dangerously warming the planet”.
Viewed by many as echoing the talking points of
right-wing climate skeptics, Malpass said: “I don’t even know. I’m not a
scientist.”
His answer drew major scrutiny from leading
environmental advocates, including Gore, who accused the World Bank official of
being a “climate denier”.
Gore, who warned against the perils of global
warming some 16 years ago in an award-winning documentary, was not alone in his
criticism of the World Bank leadership. Jochen Flasbarth, a senior economic
official in Germany and one of the bank’s directors, took to Twitter to express
concern over “confusing signals” by a top World Bank official that appear to
deny “scientific evidence” documenting climate change.
The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre,
said: “We disagree with the comments made by President Malpass.” She added: “We
expect the World Bank to be a global leader of climate ambition and
mobilization.”
The mounting global push to reform the World Bank and the IMF is music to Jordanians’ ears, as it promises to ease a constant national panic over water scarcity as well as the worsening climate events threatening their livelihoods.
In another panel at the same event in September, US
special envoy for climate change John Kerry declined to comment on whether the
Biden administration had confidence in Malpass’ leadership. However, he said
that multilateral development banks, such as the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), needed “to have major reform, (and) major
restructuring”, which, he added, the Biden administration was currently looking
into.
As a damage control measure, Malpass appeared in
several televised interviews over the past few months, where he changed his
answer to resonate with the Biden administration’s views on climate change. He
told CNN International: “It’s clear that greenhouse gas emissions are coming
from manmade sources, including fossil fuels, methane, the agricultural uses,
(and) the industrial uses, so we’re working hard to change that.”
But climate advocates were not entirely convinced,
and many have renewed their calls on President Joe Biden to replace Malpass
before his term expires in 2024.
This week, Australian Climate Change and Energy
Minister Chris Bowen said, in an advance copy of a speech he shared with
reporters at COP27, that the “international financial architecture was built
for a different time” and needs to be adapted into an “inclusive climate
agenda”. He added that there was a moral imperative for these institutions to
work with developing nations desperate for cheaper finance to help them adapt
to global warming.
Here in Jordan, the World Bank and the IMF got flak
over the past few months from opinion writers, parliamentarians, as well as top
government officials.
In August, former minister of planning and
international cooperation Nasser Al-Shraideh (who is the current deputy prime
minister for economic affairs and minister of state for public sector
modernization) said that Jordan had reached preliminary agreements with three
financing bodies, other than the World Bank, to finance a strategic food
security project, adding that they offered the country “more favorable terms”.
In October, Finance Minister Mohamad Al-Ississ
called on the IMF to introduce structural reforms to its body, to bridge the
gap of wealth and opportunity for middle-income countries (like Jordan). At a
meeting in Washington DC, he said the policies of global financial institutions
have leaned toward big companies and rich countries, reiterating views long
held by many in the country.
Ten days earlier, the Middle East Eye, a London-based
online news website, published a report accusing the IMF of “failure to revive
the Kingdom’s economy”.The news story was based on a German study by the
Friedrich Ebert Foundation about IMF’s role in shrinking social protection
spending in Jordan, Tunisia, and Morocco to safeguard vulnerable communities,
low-income citizens and the middle class against major shocks.
The World Bank did nothing over the past three
decades to finance projects that curb the impact of climate change on Jordan’s
already-poor water resources.
The mounting global push to reform the World Bank
and the IMF is music to Jordanians’ ears, as it promises to ease a constant
national panic over water scarcity as well as the worsening climate events
threatening their livelihoods.
Ruba Saqr has reported on
the environment, worked in the public sector as a communications officer, and
served as managing editor of a business magazine, spokesperson for a
humanitarian INGO, and as head of a PR agency.
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